Amerks Prepare For Home-And-Home Series With Toronto This Weekend
Published on October 13, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY)... After claiming four out of a possible six points to close out a three-game in four-night stretch, the Rochester Americans now turn their attention to a divisional home-and-home series this weekend with the Toronto Marlies.
Rochester kicks off its weekend on Friday, October 16th as the Marlies make their first trip to The Blue Cross Arena this season. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the first of back-to-back tilts and the first of eight scheduled meetings between the North Division rivals this season. The matchup will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner SportsNet Channel 26.
On Saturday, October 17th, the Amerks head north of the border en route to Ricoh Coliseum for the second leg of the two-game mini series. Fans can tune into the 3:00 p.m. matinee and listen live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. In eight meetings last season between the two teams, the Amerks finished with a 2-5-0-1 record, which included a 2-1-0-1 performance away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. Coming into the weekend, Rochester is 12-21-1 lifetime against the Toronto Maple Leafs' affiliate.
Rochester (2-1-1-0, five points) enters the week currently in second place in the American Hockey League's North Division after earning a pair of wins over Lake Erie and Syracuse. The Amerks, who sit just one point behind division-leading Manitoba, skated to a 5-2 win over the Lake Erie Monsters Friday night to jumpstart their first of three games in four nights. Rochester's first win of the season was fueled by veteran forward Jeff Taffe, whose three-point performance propelled the Amerks past the Monsters. The 30-year-old veteran certainly made his presence felt in his Rochester debut, scoring his first goal as an Amerk and assisting on two others. Taffe's power play goal at 9:38 of the third period proved to be the game-winner as he finished with a plus-two on-ice rating and was named the game's first star.
After suffering their only loss of the loss of weekend to the Albany River Rats Saturday night, Rochester responded with a 4-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch in a battle between the longtime regional rivals. After falling behind 1-0, the Amerks scored four-unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to improve their home record to 2-0-0-0.
Forwards Chris Taylor and Graham Mink each found the back of the net for their first tallies of the season as Taffe and second-year pro Michal Repik each contributed insurance goals. Rookie goaltender Alexander Salak, fresh off making both his NHL and AHL debuts earlier in the weekend, backstopped the Amerks with a 30-save performance to earn his first professional win in his first pro start between the pipes. Salak boasts a 2.55 goals-against average along with a .913 save percentage in two games of service.
Repik, Taffe and Mink currently share the team lead with four points each, with both Repik and Taffe averaging 1.33 points per game thus far. Mink paces Rochester with a team-high three assists and is second on the team with 15 penalty minutes. Second-year forward Kenndal McArdle, one of four players with two goals for the Amerks, leads the team with 17 penalty minutes, averaging 4.25 per game. Clay Wilson remains Rochester's top scoring defenseman with three points (1+2). Taffe, whose two goals have come on the man advantage, ranks tied for second in the AHL in both power play and game-winning goals. Third-year netminder Tyler Plante has seen the majority of time in net for the Amerks, who enters the week showing a 1-2-0 record with a .319 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.
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